J. Oswald Sanders

Who was J. Oswald Sanders?

Dr. John Oswald Sanders was a general director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship in the 1950s and 1960s. He authored more than forty books on the Christian life. He became an elder statesman and worldwide conference speaker from his retirement until his death.

Sanders was born in Invercargill, New Zealand and gained a law degree in 1922. He attended the Bible Training Institute in Auckland and joined its staff in 1926. In 1931, he married Edith Mary Dobson.

Sanders left a promising law practice in his native New Zealand to serve as an instructor and administrator at the Bible College of New Zealand.

In 1954 he became general director of the China Inland Mission and led the reorganization of the CIM into the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. He was instrumental in beginning many new missions projects throughout East Asia. Upon his retirement in 1969, he continued to teach worldwide and to write prolifically.